Friday, April 13, 2018 11:30 am

Defendant pleads to voluntary manslaughter in fatal shooting

Matthew LeBlanc | The Journal Gazette

A man who had been charged with murder in a fatal shooting in 2016 pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter.

Derek R. Ford, 20, was charged with killing Robert "Bobbie" Moore, 55, in a shooting Sept. 20, 2016, on Avondale Drive in which Ford and another men allegedly thought they were shooting at rival gang members.

Ford pleaded guilty in Allen Superior Court to voluntary manslaughter. A plea agreement calls for him to spend 17 1/2 years in prison. A murder charge would have brought at least 45 years in prison if he had been convicted.

A trial had been scheduled for next week.

Kahmarri Spencer and Trevon Sullivan were also charged in the case. Both pleaded guilty to lesser charges last year and agreed to testify against Ford.

For more on this story, see Saturday's print edition of The Journal Gazette or visit www.journalgazette.net after 1 a.m. Saturday.